Best Cigarette Brands in India

Behind China, India is the second largest producer of tobacco products in the entire world. India is currently exporting tobacco to eighty nations around the globe. Can you believe that 85% of the exports out of India are all tobacco related products? Despite these numbers, tobacco use has dropped drastically due to smoking being banned in many areas, and all the marketing against tobacco showing it’s being a leading cause of cancer. Many of these companies are coming up with new ways to present tobacco to a growing amount of anti-tobacco groups. Despite the efforts to end the tobacco industry, these brands and companies have maintained success over the years.

Following are the top ten Best Cigarette Brands in India

10. Gudang Garam

This is a popular Indonesian brand of clove cigarettes. They currently are very popular in India. This company is awesome because they started from the ground up. The founder, Surya Wonowidjojo, left the company he was working for to buy land and start creating his own variation of kretek cigarettes (clove cigarettes). He took 12 workers with him and started creating his empire. His company is now one of the largest kretek cigarette makers in the world. The belief was if the picture of his buildings were featured on the cigarette cartons it would bring good luck and they must have been correct. This is how they created the logo that is featured on all of their cigarettes to this day.

9. Parliament

These cigarettes are created by the popular, and still very successful company Phillip Morris. They are well known for their unique filters which are recessed. They advertised this, which boosted their sales, stating that only the flavor touches your lips and not the nastiness of the filter. They claim that this filter alter reduces the amount of tar that touches the lips. Did you know, in the 1990’s Charlie Sheen was a spokes person for Parliament?

8. Navy Cut

Navy Cut was one of the first filtered brands to be featured in India. The cigarettes used to be have the Wills Family crest on the package but now it features two unicorns. They had to market the filter heavily because when they appeared on the market most cigarettes had no filter. They had to convince the public that the filter improved the flavor of the tobacco. They were also one of the first companies to innovate limited edition packs; which helped boost sales as consumers knew that the majority of these packs would never be seen again.

7. Pall Mall

Pall Mall is created by the R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company in North Carolina, USA. This is the companies highest selling brand all over the world. The name of the cigarettes came from a street that is popular in London. They introduced this brand in 1899 and they’ve been going strong ever since. Their highest point of popularity was in the 60’s when they were the number brand in multiple countries. The latin writing on the cover of the box translates to “Through hardships to the stars.”

6. Benson & Hedges

This is another cigarette that is sold and created by Phillip Morris. This company dates back to 1873 by Richard Benson and William Hedges. In October of 2012 they introduced a “dual-flavor” cigarette which made the cigarette a light unless you popped a mentholated packet in the filter. The brand of cigarettes were so popular that the lead singer of Oasis, who smoked the brand regularly, named his cats Benson and Hedges.

5. Kool Filter Kings

They are extremely popular and successful in India. They are usually targeting the youth of India. This particular brand has been in the making since 1979. They increased the value of the brand by embossing the name, adding a crest and using imported cigarette paper. The brand became most popular in the metros of India.

4. Marlboro

Marlboro is one of the most recognized brands internationally. This brand is manufactured and sold by Philip Morris International. They are most advertised by Motorsport sponsorship; Formula One, Grand Prix motorcycle racing and other racing series. When they initially came out it was advertised that filtered cigarettes were better than those without it, like Lucky Strike.

3. Beedi

Beedi is not a brand of cigarette but perhaps just a type of cigarette. It is extremely popular in India. It’s a thinly wrapped cigarette with a tendu wrap, and the tobacco is mixed with herbs, spices and betel nuts. They are also popular because they are inexpensive. Beedi’s started when tobacco workers would take the left over tobacco and wrap it in leaves. Beedis are also different because you have to constantly puff on them to keep them lit. It takes work to keep these cigarettes lit. Tendu leaves have proven to make a great wrapper for cigarettes and this leaf is particularly what made the cigarettes so successful. The leaves are typically dried in the sun for a few days before being used to wrap the tobacco, spice and herb mixture.

2. Gold Flake Light

The company ITC Limited manufactures and sells the Gold Flake Light and is the number one sold cigarette in India right along with the Kings.

1. Gold Flake Kings

In the 1970’s Gold Flake expanded to create Kings. They provide the premium feel of royalty. There is very little information on the company and how they were founded. Despite the lack of information, this brand of cigarette remains the number one in the country.

With marketing efforts to lower cigarette consumption it has reduced in popularity, but there is still a large group of Indians around the globe that still participate in cigarette smoking. They are one of the largest exporters of tobacco in the world so even if they aren’t being smoked in the country of India, their tobacco products are being enjoyed all over the globe. These brands meet the demands of their Indian clientele, provide them with the quality, history and tobacco quality that is expected. Whether you smoke kreteks, regular tobacco cigarettes, menthol or beedis; there is a consumer for all these types all over the world.